News (#07-08 July-August 2016)

Law Digest

New Judicial System Act adopted

On 2 June the Verkhovna Rada passed the On Judicial System and Status of Judges Act of Ukraine (Draft Act No.4734). The Draft was submitted by the President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, as implementing with respect to constitutional changes in terms of justice, already approved in the first reading.

Compliance with the position of a judge who is appointed for five years or is elected for an indefinite term, prior entry into force of amendments to the Constitution regarding justice shall be evaluated by the collegiate body of the High Qualification Commission of Judges. Public control over procedures of qualification and competition through the Public Integrity Board is envisaged.

If the results of such evaluation reveal inconsistency on the part of a judge with the position held, this will be grounds for the judge’s dismissal by a decision of the Supreme Council of Justice. Furthermore, a judge’s refusal to undergo such evaluation will also be grounds for dismissal. A new system of justice is provided, which will consist of local courts, courts of appeal and the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court shall consist of the Grand Chamber and four cassation courts — administrative, economic, criminal and civil.

Also, the Act provides higher specialized courts such as the Supreme Court on Intellectual Property and the Supreme Court of Anticorruption.

The Act provides for a significant increase in judicial remuneration, in particular, basic salary of a local court judge shall be 30 times the minimum wage, of an appeal court judge — 50 times the minimum wage, of the Supreme Court — 75 times the minimum wage. At the same time, a number of mandatory declarations for judges regarding status of property, kinship and philanthropy are introduced.

The Act shall come into force simultaneously with the On Amendments to the Constitution in the Section on the Justice System Act.

 

Counter-contraband operations

On 8 June the Government decided to establish the Interagency Task Center and 20 interagency mobile groups to fight corruption at customs points, and the work of these groups will be coordinated by the Interagency Task Center located at SFS.

The analytical group within the Centre will carry out analytical and search work in order to identify risky operations in the customs area of activity and transmit information to mobile teams which will operate around the clock throughout Ukraine in rapid response mode.

Mandatory photo and video recording of formalities conducted by customs and other regulatory authorities will also be gradually introduced. The process of photo and video recording will be continuous (to reflect all stages of inspection), informative (all stages of inspection will be accompanied by comments by officials) and available for further viewing and control.

At the final stage videos are expected to be attached to customs declarations using the functionality of SFS automated system of customs clearance.

 

On Financial Restructuring Act

Recently the Parliament passed the On Financial Restructuring Act, which defines the conditions and manner for carrying out the procedure of voluntary financial restructuring of a debtor. The Act established that “financial restructuring is carried out to:

— facilitate recovery of economic activity of debtors that are in a critical financial condition by restructuring their financial obligations and/or economic activities;

— maintain the financial system’s stability;

— ensure access for debtors to financing so as to restore their economic activities”.

To improve the efficiency of disputes consideration arising during financial restructuring procedures, the law provides for creation of a special arbitration committee.

For the Act’s duration, introduction of tax privilege is anticipated by introducing appropriate amendments to the Tax Code of Ukraine. The validity of the adopted Act is three years with possible extension in the event of achievement of a positive outcome.

 

Unified program for technical recording of legal proceedings

The State Court Administration has started the introduction of the unified program of technical recording of legal proceedings in courts in August. Unified hardware and software system will provide audio and video recording, as well as recording of video conferences.

Procedures standardization will reduce the burden on a secretary as there will be no need for simultaneous servicing of audio and video conferencing recording systems (if applicable), as well as taking full technical recording protocols of legal proceedings.

Unified hardware and software system of technical recording of legal proceedings will ensure full compliance of protocol with audio recording of legal proceedings. The protocol of legal proceedings using technical recording program is recorded in real-time mode, which makes it impossible to introduce further adjustments, is printed out and signed personally by the secretary of legal proceedings and is attached to case materials.

Hardware and software systems will be installed on previously acquired audio recording and video conferencing systems located in premises of courts, free of charge with an unlimited number of licenses, which will lead to significant budget savings.

 

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